Magnetic selection apparatus



P 4, 1962 w. HANSTEIN 3,052,351

MAGNETIC SELECTION APPARATUS Original Filed May 5, l958 5 Sheets-Sheet l CHUTE SELECTION CONTROL E55 INVENTOR. 5;; WALTER HANSTEIN 5 BY AGENT Sept. 4, 1962 w. HANSTEIN MAGNETIC SELECTION APPARATUS Original Filed May 5, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

WALTER HANSTEIN p 4, 1962 w. HANSTEIN 3,052,351

MAGNETIC SELECTION APPARATUS Original Filed- May 5, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENT OR. WALTER HANSTEM AGENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 W. HANSTEIN MAGNETIC SELECTION APPARATUS Original Filed May 5, 1958 o vw Om Sept. 4, 1962 INVENTOR.

WALTER HANSTEIN AGENT Sept. 4, 1962 w. HANSTEIN MAGNETIC SELECTION APPARATUS Original Filed May 5, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 H V/ my United States Patent 9 3,052,351 MAGNETIC SELECTION APPARATUS Walter Hanstein, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Continuation of application Ser. No. 732,920, May 5, 1958. This application Jan. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 166,956 27 Claims. (Cl. 209-74) This invention relates to automatic selection apparatus and more specifically to an electromagnetically actuated selector or diverter for use with equipment for processing randomly arranged items in specified groups or sequences and automatically rearranging the items in a specified order. This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 732,920, filed May 5, 1958, now abandoned, in the name of Walter Hanstein, Jr., entitled Magnetic Selection Apparatus.

Prior art sorting or item arranging devices have relied generally on mechanical and electromechanical systems requiring relatively large amounts of power and relatively involved energy multiplying means for attaining appreciable operating speeds.

One known form of sorting apparatus employs a plurality of fiat vertically stacked deflectable members which are disposed in the path of travel of the items to be sorted. The rockable clapper of a solenoid is positioned beneath the lowermost defiectable member of the stack in such fashion that application of an electrical signal to the solenoid winding is timed with the arrival of the item and causes the clapper to rock the ends of the deflectable members so that the advancing edge of the item can pass between a selected two of the mem bers and thus be advanced into a sorting bin or pocket. The speed of operation of this device is limited by reason of the considerable number of the parts used therein and the difiiculty of moving these parts at high speeds.

Another known sorting apparatus utilizes a sorting bed into the base of which a plurality of mechanically actuated diverting members or fingers are movably mounted. Items in the form of pnuched cards, for example, from a hopper at one end of the bed are moved along the bed. Linkage electrically or mechanically activated in timed relation to the arrival of the punched card is caused to position the diverting fingers into the path of the card whereupon the card is moved substantially at right angles to its normal line of travel into a receiving hopper or bin. Operating speed of this type mechanism is also limited by virtue of the mass of the involved linkages which are required to advance and retract the diverting elements and the timing problems that arise in attempting to operate these elements at extremely high speeds.

It is an important object therefore of the present invention to provide an automatic selection mechanism which overcomes the foregoing difficulties in a distinctly novel and efficient manner.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an automatic high speed electromagnetic chute selection mechanism wherein the ends of the chute members form the only moving parts of the apparatus.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an extremely high speed automatic selection apparatus capable of operating from selecting position to selecting position without returning to a Zero or starting position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved automatic electromagnetically actuated selection mechanism for use as a document sorting apparatus.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a chute selection mechanism having very little inertia for use as an item sorting apparatus.

3,fi52,35l Patented Sept. 4, 1962 Another object of the invention is to provide a novel chute selection mechanism wherein the item selecting blades of the chutes are moved to different selecting positions without the use of external physical means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a relatively high speed automatic selection mechanism requiring only the movement of gate members and operable on extremely low power requirements.

A preferred embodiment of one form of apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a pair of magnets disposed with the poles f like polarity in confronting relationship and forming a gap therebetween. A first pair of oppositely disposed parallelly arranged guide plates is situated within the air gap formed by one set of confronting magnet poles. A second pair of guide plates is disposed within the air gap formed by the other two confronting magnet poles. Intermediate each pair of guide plates and of varying length are located a first and a second set of twelve vanes or blades. Each vane is constructed of relatively thin, resilient, non-magnetic material and is capable of quickly flexing from side to side within the air gap of the magnet poles without undue fatigue. Each vane carries an electrical coil which is further provided with conveniently arranged lead wires connectible to a source of information potential such as the output from a selection control device. Application of current in a selected direction to each coil in each group of vanes will produce a magnetic field of differing polarity on opposite faces of each vane end. The selection of vane coil polarity is such as to create an interaction of magnetic fields and cause certain of the vanes to move together toward one magnet pole while the remainder of the vanes are caused to move toward the opposite magnet pole to thus form a chute opening therebetween for the reception therein of the item being sorted.

Suiable choice of the recognition apparatus permits the chute selector of the present invention to be actuaed in response to the interrogation of information in the form of punched holes, fluorescent ink spots, magnetizable material, magnetic ink indicia or by means of an optical system for sensing characters, or by other means.

It should at once be apparent that while the environment for the present invention is pictured as a document sorting apparatus, the invention itself is broadly applicable to the field of sorting generally as well as to the sorting of mail, selective flow or mixture of any fluids, such as gas, or transportable solids.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combination of parts, the essential elements of which are set forth in appended claims and several representative embodiments of which are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a novel chute selection system embodying the present invention;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are schematic illustrations of the chute selection mechanism of FIG. 1 showing the nonreturn to zero feature of the device;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are isometric functional schematic views of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of an apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of a major portion of the electrical circuitry used with the present invention.

The schematic drawing of FIG. 1 illustrates a conceptual embodiment of the invention for explanation purposes and is shown applied to a document sorter. In general, as is one of the conventional practices, the documents or items to be sorted into different bins or receiving stations are fed serially, that is, one after the other, at a rapid rate into the entering ends of a plurality of guide-ways or chutes each leading separately to an individual one of the receiving bins. The entering ends of the chutes are made movable with respect to one another to form gates of which one is opened to admit the document into the desired chute,

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, at the entering ends of the chutes there is provided a magnetic field whose magnetic flux lines are arranged to extend transversely to the direction of the chutes. As illustrated in FIG. 1, this magnetic field may be provided by a pair of permanent magnets Ml and 12 located on two opposite sides of the entering ends of the chutes. The two magnets are similarly formed, each being U-shaped in configuration and the two are arranged so that their respective similar poles, north and north on the one hand, and south and south on the other hand, identified respectively by the letter designations N and S, are opposed to one another in the manner shown in FIG. 1. In certain uses of the invention the two sets of opposing north poles and opposing south poles may be replaced by a single set of poles of like polarity or by other means for forming the desired magnetic field. In the present instance, the employment of two magnets and two sets of opposing poles of like polarity is desirable for the type of sorter mechanism illustrated, as will become apparent hereinafter.

Positioned in the gap between each opposing set of magnetic poles are a plurality of vanes or blades forming the for-ward or entering portions of the chute members. These vanes are sidewise movable in the nature of flaps and, as will be explained more fully hereinafter, each vane sets up its own magnetic field for interaction with the field of the magnetic poles between which it is disposed and is thus caused to be moved in one direction or the other by the interaction of these magnetic fields.

For purposes of clarity, only two blades or vanes are shown in FIG. 1 between each opposing set of magnetic poles, but as indicated by reference to FIGS. 2 to 8 inelusive, a large number of such vanes may be located in the gaps between the two sets of poles. Each chute member of the illustrated embodiment of the invention is composed of two slightly separated elongated strips lying in the same plane and terminating in this spaced apart relationship in a pair of two vanes, one vane being located between one set of similar magnetic poles and the other vane between a set of similar magnetic poles. Referring particularly to FIG. 1, the upper and lower sections of one chute member are indicated at 114 and 14 with their respective ends or vanes identified at 16 and 16. The upper and lower sections of a second chute member in FIG. 1, are indicated at 18 and 18 and their ends or vanes at 20 and 20' respectively. Only two chute members are shown in FIG. 1 for convenience of explanation. The provision of the clearance between the two vertically spaced sections of a chute member is to enable document transport means to enter the clearance and engage the documents and feed them through the proper chute passage for the selected receiving station or bin. As described hereinafter, the advancing mechanism may be an endless belt operating through the slot created by the separation of the chute sections and cooperating with rollers to feed the documents through the chutes. In FIG. 1, an item 22 to be sorted is shown approaching the magnetic field region of the permanent magnets. Representative of items that may be sorted are bank checks, punched or otherwise marked business machine cards, ledgers, mailing envelopes, etc. As earlier set forth herein, the invention, however, is not limited to these mentioned items for sorting purposes.

Each chute vane is formed of material not appreciably influenced by the magnetic field in which it works, and thus may be considered as non-magnetic. Each vane is preferably thin and flexible for rapid bending operations, but the vane may be hinged or otherwise mounted to obtain the desired sidewise motion. A satisfactory material out of which to form the vanes is thin sheet stock of beryllium copper alloy. Other material may be thin strip of Phosphor bronze or flexible plastic. Carried on the free end portion of each vane in alignment with the poles of the magnet between which it is disposed is a means for establishing magnetic poles of opposite polarity on the two faces of the vane. For this purpose an electrical conductor is arranged on the vane in the form of an electric coil so that when current is flowing therethrough it forms its own magnetic field. Preferably such electrical conductor is spirally formed in the plane of the vane as shown at 24 in FIG. 1. The coil may comprise a conventional wire wound structure or it may be a printed or etched wiring element. The opposite ends of the coil on each vane are connected to conducting leads 26 and 28 extending longitudinally of the vane away from the free end thereof and ending respectively in separate terminals 30 and 32 arranged to project from one edge of the vane as shown. The electrical coils and conductors are insulativcly mounted upon or insulatively incorporated in the vane and particularly when the vane material is formed of electrically conductive material as suggested hereinabove. For high rate, low cost manufacturing operation, each vane is preferably similarly constructed, although for convenient assembly operation the terminals 30 and 32 may be located at slightly different positions on the vanes as is apparent in FIGS. 5' and 6.

It is now evident from what has been described about the construction in FIG. 1 that upon directing a current through the coil 24 of any vane it will create its own magnetic field within the field of the poles of the permancnt magnets and that the resulting interaction of the magnetic fields will cause the vane to be attracted by one pole of the permanent magnet and repelled by the other. It may be further evident that by controlling the direction of current flow in the coil 24- the vane can be made to move in one direction or the opposite direction. By selective control of current flow in the coils 24 of all of the vanes, between a given set of magnetic poles, the vanes can be divided into two groups such that the two groups magnetically repel one another while at the same time each group is magnetically attracted toward the nearest magnetic pole. The result is the formation of an entrance or throat between the two groups of vanes into which the document is advanced for travel down the selected chute passage to the desired bin or pocket.

As shown in FIG. 1, vanes 16 and 16 of the chute sections 14 and 14' are deflected to the left as viewed in this figure, whereas the vanes 20 and 20' of the chute sections 18 and 18 are deflected to the right. By directing the current through the coils in the directions shown by the arrows in FIG. 1 the separate magnetic fields set up by the coils 24 will cause the resulting deflection of the vanes or blades to thus form the throat for receiving the document Z2. thereinto. The controlling electrical cur-rents may be derived from a control identified generally in FIG. 1 as the chute selection control 34 and fully described in connection with FIG. 9. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention there are as many conductors leading from the chute selection control as there are chute members having movable vanes or blades in the sorter machine, it being understood that in the illustrated embodiment each chute member has a dual set of upper and lower vanes, such as indicated at 16 and 16', and 2&1 and 20 in FIG. 1. It should be apparent that a single set of opposed poles of like polarity and a single set of vanes may be employed in other circumstances in which the invention is used.

Considering the circuit for one of the chute members in FIG. 1 the selected member being composed of the sections 18 and 13' and the vanes 20 and 2t), the circuit comprises a conducting lead 35 placed at ground or negative potential through terminal 36, connected to the terminal 32 of lower vane 26' and thence by lead 28 to the coil 24 on this vane where it returns by lead 26 to terminal 30 of the vane. From this point a. conducting line 38 connects terminal 30 of the lower vane 20 with terminal 32 of the upper vane 20 so that coil 24 receives the same current by way of its lead 28 and returns the same by Way of lead 26 and terminal 30. The circuit through the vanes is completed by a conducting lead 40 extending from terminal 30 of the upper vane to the chute selector control 34. As indicated by the arrows in the circuit selected for the example of current flow through the two vanes 20 and 20, it is apparent that the current flows in opposite directions through the two coils of these vanes. This may be accomplished by inverting the two vanes with respect to one another when they are assembled in the machine so that two coils loop or spiral in opposite directions. In the dual arrangement of two sets of magnetic poles and the two-sectional character of the chute, it is necessary that the two vanes of a common chute member have their coils wound in opposite directions in order to have the vanes attracted for movement in the same direction by magnetic poles of opposite polarity. In FIG. 1 both vanes 20 and 20 are shown deflected toward the right magnet 12 as they are viewed in the figure.

In similar manner, but accomplished by a reversed current flow from the chute selector control 34, the two vanes 16 and 16 are caused to move toward the left magnet as viewed in FIG. 1, it being understood (although not shown) that the coils of these two vanes are connected to one another in the same manner as that described for the coils of the vanes and 2d.

The chute selector control 34 may be controlled in any suitable manner to provide the desired distribution of the items to be sorted., Although the selector 34 may be controlled from a program of instructions, it is highly desirable in many instances to have the items themselves determine the chutes into which they are to be directed. Certain conventional punched card sorter mechanisms have the provision whereby the desired receiving bin to which the card is to be sent is punched in the card and as it approaches the blades of the chutes the punched holes are read and the chute blades are controlled by the information imparted by the holes to form the desired chute entrance for receiving the card. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention in FIG. 1, certain characters are printed or otherwise formed on the documents to be sorted which identify the chute into which each document is to be forwarded. To this end, provision is made for automatically sensing and recognizing these chute identifying characters and controlling the chute selection device 34, in such a way that the vanes are separated into two groups to form the throat of the particular chute for which the document is intended.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, there is provided a sensing head identified generally at 42 along the path of travel of the document which is so positioned with respect thereto that it is capable of sensing the chute identifying characters on the documents. Depending upon kind of recognition device employed the sensing head may be of various types. The head may be able to sense code or character markings printed in magnetic or fluorescent inks, or it may be able to mechanically feel punched holes or optically read characters. A desirable type of head is a magnetic transducer capable of sensing characters printed on the document in magnetic ink. The electrical fluctuations derived from the sensing of such characters are fed to a character recognition device generally indicated at 44 which automatically recognizes the characters sensed and determines from these characters the particular chutes through which the documents are to be advanced. Following such determination by the device 44 it controls by separate lead lines 46 the operation of the chute selection control 34. Character sensing and recognizing means of this type are desirable for sorting magnetically printed bank checks and similar documents.

The present invention, in the embodiment herein set forth, contemplates the utilization of an upper set of twelve vanes or blades and a lower set of twelve vanes or blades (twent-four in all) substantially identical to blades 16, 16, 20 and 20 earlier described which are disposed as separate assemblies between upper and lower pairs of parallel non-magnetic, relatively rigid members hereinafter referred to as side plates 52-53 and 5455. It is to be understood that the precise number of vanes or blades is a matter of design choice and is not to be con sidered a limiting factor in the present invention.

The chutes vary in individual length according to the location of the storage bins or pockets with which they are associated. Each chute member consists as earlier mentioned of the forward throat forming vanes of a relatively thin strip material and a rearward extension running to the bin with which the chute is associated. Preferably, as shown, each chute extension is formed of the same material as its forward vane and is integrally connected thereto. This provides coextensive surfaces on the forward and rearward portions of the chute members, while at the same time permitting a slight flexure in the chute extensions to accommodate the varying thicknesses of the documents as they are transported through the chutes. The side plates 52-53 and 5455 at their widened forward end limit the sidewise excursions of the vanes while at the same time providing outermost side walls for the two extreme outer chutes of each upper and lower set.

As earlier set forth herein, the embodiment of the invention herein shown is a non-return to zero type mechanism, i.e., selection of any chute immediately following a previously selected chute does not necessitate returning all of the chutes to a preselected zero or starting position. This feature of the invention is graphically illustrated in the schematic views of FIG. 2, 3 and 4, as will now be described.

Assume, for the purposes of the selected example in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, that each of the vanes V1-V12 and corresponding chutes C1-Cl3 with their associated bins or pockets B1B13 (only the bins B10-B13 having been shown in FIG. 2) have already been actuated in the manner and by the means described in connection with the operation of the device of FIG. 1, and that chute C4 has received one or more items such as checks which have been routed through this chute to bin number 4 (not show). Vanes V1, V2 and V3 each carrying their individual coils have been selectively polarized in a manner such as to be magnetically drawn or moved together toward side plate 52 while the coils of vanes V4V12 have also been selectively but oppositely polarized so as to be magnetically attracted together in the direction of the side plate 53. The repulsive separation resulting from the opposing lines of magnetic force set up between vanes V3 and V4 add to the other factors causing the vane assembly to separate into two groups of vanes, as shown, and thus provide a chute opening, in this instance, for chute C4 to be made available.

If now the selector control 34 of the present invention indicates, by virtue of signal information sensed from an item and applied thereto from recognition device 44, that chute C8 is to be made accessible, the polarizing potential which is being applied to each of the coils of vanes V1, V2 and V3 remains unaltered. However, since chute C8 generally comprises the area extending between and lengthwise of two of the vanes, namely, vanes V7 and V8, it is necessary to change or reverse the polarizing potential being applied to vanes V4 to V7 inclusive so as to cause these vanes to move, as shown in FIG. 3, in the direction of the arrow 56 toward the vanes V1-V3 adjacent to guide plate 52 to produce a separation between vane V7 and vane V8 forming chute C8 leading to bin 8 (not shown). The magnetizing or polarizing potential applied to the coils of vanes V8-V12 is unchanged, it being recalled that a non-return to zero type mechanism '7 is contemplated and therefore these vanes remain in their original positions as shown in FIG. 4.

Since the mass of each vane is negligible being of the order of a few grams approximately, the transition excursion of each vane between the side plates 5253 and 5455 from any rest position to any other position requires that relatively little power be sent through the respective vane coils. An extremely fast chute selecting mechanism is thus provided.

FIGS. and 6 illustrate in more structural detail a chute selection mechanism embodying principles of the invention and intended for sorting documents such as bank checks and the like. The two figures represent different operating conditions of a throat forming structure embodying the principles of the invention shown in FIG. 1. Certain corresponding elements found in FIGS. 1 to 4 are given the same reference characters in FIGS. 5 and 6. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the magnets and 12 are similarly arranged as in FIG. 1 to provide opposing pole ieces at two different levels. In the gap between each set of pole pieces there is provided an assembly of blades or vanes similar in construction and function as the blades 16, 16' and 20, 20. The upper vane assembly is indicated at 48; the lower vane assembly at 50. As described in FIG. 1, and discussed in connection therewith, each vane of the two assemblies has an electrical coil 24 formed on the free end thereof in the gap between the pole pieces of the magnets 10 and 12. Leads 26 and 28 on each vane connect the coil 24 to projecting terminals 30 and 32, as shown in FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 5 and 6 an item to be sorted such as a document is shown at 22 advancing toward the magnetic region in FIG. 5 and entering the open throat of the selected chute in FIG. 6. The document is advanced between stationary side walls forming a narrow channel for the delivery of the document. The side walls comprise an upper pair of parallel side plates 5859 and the lower similar pair of parallel side plates 606 1 spaced from the upper set of plates and forming aligned slots therebetween. The side plates 5859 and 60-61 terminate preferably either at or just within the gap formed between the pole pieces of the magnets It and 12, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

The side plates 5253 and 5455 are widened in the magnetic region but shortly therebeyond the side plates converge to form a passageway extending from the chute selector mechanism to the bins. The several side plates hereinabove described are relatively thick and rigidly mounted, and in the case of the widened portions of the side plates 5253 and 54-55, serve to limit the extent that the assembly of vanes 48 and 50 may be spread apart and flexed in one direction or the other. The widened character of the upper and lower tiers of side plates 5253 and 5455 as they enter the gap between the magnet pole pieces enables all of the free ends of the blades to move completely to one side or the other side of the document passage formed between the side plates 58-59 and 6t 6 ll of the delivery walls.

As shown in FIG. 5 with no current applied to the coils of the vane ends of each vane assembly the vane ends are free to assume relaxed position in which they are neither attracted to nor repelled from each other or the magnet pole pieces between which each assembly is disposed. Upon the application of a current in a selected direction to each vane coil 24 of each vane assembly, the vanes are immediately deflected to positions characteristic of a selected chute as shown most clearly in FIG. 6. Vane deflection times of approximately ten milliseconds have been obtained in the use of the embodiment of the invention.

As earlier mentioned herein and as shown most clearly in FIGS. 5 and 6, an advancing mechanism comprising an endless belt 62. of suitable material operates through the slot created by the separation between the upper and lower sets of side plates. One set of rollers 6464 is 3 mounted behind the belt as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6,. while another similar set of rollers 66-66 is mounted on the document passage side of the belt in opposed relation to the first set of rollers. caused to pass between the belt 62 and the front set of rollers 66% as they are transported to the chute se-- lector mechanism.

Although the parts making up the magnetic selection mechanism may be composed of different materials and shaped in different ways, satisfactory results have been obtained by employing the beryllium copper alioy for the;

vanes at thicknesses approximating .003 inch and having a weight approximately 3 grams without the coil there-- on. A suitable coil which has been found satisfactory is similar in some respects to the type referred to as a voice coil employed in radio loud speakers. As suggested hereinabove, the coil may be formed by loops of' Wire conductors or etched or printed on a dielectric base. In one form of mounting of the coil vane they are simply secured to one side of the vane by insulating adhesive material and both the coil and the adjacent portions of the vane coated with a plastic substance such as epoxy resin. In lieu of metal, the vanes may be constructed of plastic material, and in a form of vane embodying such material the coil may be sandwiched between thin flexible strips of hardened plastic composition. It has also been found that a satisfactory magnetic field for the operation of the vanes therein may be from two to six or more Kilogauss adjacent to the faces of the pole pieces. It should be understood that the values expressed herein for the different parts of the selection mechanism are merely exemplary and that these values may be carried depending upon the circumstances in which the invention is used.

A preferred structural embodiment of one form of the present invention as applied to an item sorting apparatus is illustrated in the top plan and side elevational views of FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively. Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, which will be described simultaneously, there is shown a portion of a generally horizontally extending machine frame including upper and lower fiat horizontal supporting members 68-68 on one side of the machine, and similar members 7070 on the opposite side of the machine, the members on one side being spaced apart from those on the other to form the passage or guide-way for the transport of the documents. These horizontal supporting members are carried on uprights or pedestals 72 at spaced intervals along the machine, each pedestal being reduced adjacent to its upper end to form a support for the lower member 70 and further reduced at its upper extremity to form a support for the upper member 68 so that these two supporting members are arranged in superposed spaced apart parallel relationship. Preferably, as shown, the side plates 5859 and 6061 are mounted upon the supporting members 68 and 70 by means of angular brackets 74 in their spaced relationship previously described. The endless driving belt 62, as previously described, is continuously advanced in one direction by means of the motor 76 and its driving pulley 78. The slack of the driving belt is held to a minimum by means of a tensioning roller 80 and associated spring 81. The belt 62 serves as the transport medium for moving items or documents to be processed by the machine from a loading hopper (not shown) at the left end of the machine, as viewed in FIGS. 7 and 8, past the sensing head 42 and through the chute selector mechanism in the region of the tWo opposed magnets 10 and 12.

The belt is advanced between the upper side plates 58-59 and the lower side plates 6{l-61, which terminate partially in the gap between the magnets 10 and 12, and thence between the side plates 5253 and 5455 for the balance of the machine. Beyond the chute selection mechanism the upper and lower set of side plates on one side of the machine, such as the side plates 53- and 55, are interrupted at spaced intervals for most of their length Items to be fed are thusto provide discharge openings 82 for feeding the documents out of the chutes into the bins or pockets.

In order to transport the documents, the belt 62 cooperates with rollers for grippingly engaging the documents to propel the same through the machines. For this purpose a plurality of pairs of idler gripping rollers 84*84 and 86-8-6 are positioned in opposed relation on opposite sides of the path of movement of the belt. Roller pairs 86-86 on one side of the belt are rotatable on fixed shafts 88 mounted between the adjacent elongated supporting members 68 and 70. Roller pairs 8484 on the opposite side of the belt are each mounted on an individual bell crank 90 rockable about a stud 92. The bell crank of each pair of rollers 84-84 are biased into engagement with the belt by a common spring 94 so as to cause the belt to be yieldingly urged against the rollers 86-86 and thus grip the items or documents for transport through the machine. Preferably, the pairs of rollers are spaced apart longitudinally of the machine less than the lengths of the items to be processed in order to assure gripping engagement thereof throughout the length of the guideway.

With respect to the chute selection mechanism of the machine, the two magnets 10 and 12 may be supported in any suitable manner on opposite sides of the transport path, but are herein shown separately supported by brackets 96 and 98, the former for magnet 1t and the latter for magnet 12. These two brackets as well as the pedestal '72 may rest upon horizontal base member 100, as best shown in FIG. 8. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the sorting vanes, the upper assembly of which is shown at 4-8 in FIG. 7, are supported in vertical planes in the gaps between the opposed poles of the magnets. Except for the free ends of the chute members represented by these vanes or blades, the balance of the chute members are preferably loosely pinned to the side plates between which they extend. At spaced intervals along their lengths, the side plates are provided with pins 102 which project through the marginal portions of the plates and the chute members on the side thereof remote from the endless belt 62. These pins loosely hold the chute members within the side plates permitting them to deflect or move sidewise to accommodate the passage of the items being sorted.

The chute members each terminate at its respective pocket or bin, such as indicated by bins B10 to B13 in FIG. 2, and deliver thereto the items being sorted by the vanes. Each bin may comprise a hollow chamber open at the top and having an access slot providing an entrance tor the sorted items. In order to provide means for maintaining the sorted items in each bin in the desired order while still permitting the ingress thereto of succeeding or following items, each bin may be provided with means therein for stacking the items fed thereto.

In order to simplify the electrical wiring required for the chute selector mechanism, as shown in FIG. 7, upper and lower multi-circuit connector structures 110 and 112 are placed on the machine. The two connector structures are mounted adjacent to their respective vane assemblies 48 and 50 on angle brackets 114 secured to the upper and lower horizontal supports 6S-68 and 70-70. Preferably, each connector structure overlies the terminals 30 and 32 of its respective vane assembly, the latter being grouped or bunched together, for example, as shown in FIGS. and 6, in order to provide convenient electrical interconnection therewith. As indicated in FIG. 7, the individual leads connect each terminal on a vane with a particular projecting terminal on the adjacent connector structure. The leads 40 from the chute selector control 34 and the leads to the ground terminals 36 are connected to the terminals of the connector structures and thence separately and individually to the vanes of the two vane assemblies in the manner described in connection with FIG. 1.

' FIG. 7.

Although various means may be employed to selectively control the flow of current through the coils of the vanes in one direction or the other, a desirable form of chute selection control device 34 is that shown in FIG. 9. The circuit arrangement illustrated in FIG. 9 provides a separate control channel for each set of deflecting vanes. The control channels are indicated generally at and each terminates in a lead 40 for a given set of vanes. One of the vane control channels has been detailed in FIG. 9 to show the electrical components thereof and its respective set of upper and lower vanes is schematically shown connected thereto.

Each vane control channel 120 of FIG. 9 is similarly constructed and in general comprises an input mixer gate 122 after which the channel divides into two parallel branch circuits which later merge into the common output lead 40. Except for the provision of an inverter 124 at the input end of one of the branch circuits of each control channel the two branch circuits employ similar electrical components. In general, these comprise an amplifier component 126 further identified by A, and an emitter folower component 128 further identified by EF, and a power transistor component 13%} further identified by PT. In the detailed circuit diagram of one of the vane control channels 120 exhibited in FIG. 9, the various electrical elements of each component and certain circuit values are indicated.

Entering each mixer gate 122 is an input lead 46 which, as previously set forth herein, may be connected to the character recognition device 44 as shown in FIG. 1, or be connected to some other form of control. Also entering each mixer gate 122, except that of the first or bottom control channel of FIG. 9, is a second input lead 132. The opposite end of each such second input lead is connected to the next lower control channel as viewed in FIG. 9 and into the circuit of the latter immediately following the inverter 124, as indicated by the junction 134.

In general, for the operation of the selection control circuit illustrated in FIG. 9, all of the input leads 46 are normally of the same potential except when one is selected to identify the chute throat to be formed by the vane assemblies. To this selected input lead there is applied a potential different from the others. The control channel 120 connected to the selected lead not only changes the direction of current flow in the coils of its set of vanes, but also by way of its junction 134 and associated cross connection lead 132. it causes the next adjacent control channel and all other channels on this same side of the initially selected channel to change the direction of current flow in the coils of their respective sets of vanes and thus divide and separate the vane assemblies into two groups to form the desired chute throat.

Although ditferent electrical potentials may be used to operate the circuitry of FIG. 9, for purposes. of explana tion, a zero or ground potential may be the normal potential applied on the input leads 46 and this same potential will likewise be supplied on input lead 132 of each mixer gate. When a chute selection is made, a minus or negative 5 volt potential may be employed to signal the selected control channel to indicate the division between vane groups for forming the chute throat, this latter voltage being applied to a single channel through its input lead 46. First, however, it will be assumed for the description of the operation of the selector control device 34, that the same potential is applied to all of the input leads 46, and under this circumstance the components of the separate control channels will cause current to flow in the same direction through all of the output leads 40 and through all of the sets of vanes. Under these circumstances all of the vanes will move to one side of the chute selection area, such as to the position shown in If now a given input lead 46 has its voltage changed with respect to all of the others, such as to a negative 5 volts, the components of its particular channel will cause a current reversal in its output lead 40 and thus reverse the current iiow through the coils of the two sets of vanes to which this output lead is connected. At the same time, by virtue of its cross connecting lead 132 to the mixer gate of the next adjacent channel on one side thereof, a negative voltage will be applied to the gate thus causing this channel of the device to reverse its current flow in its output lead and in the coils of its set of deflection vanes. Similarly, through the remaining cross connecting leads 132 on the same side of the selected control channel all of the control channels of the device will reverse the flow of current in their output lead 40 and through their respective vane coils. All the vanes having the currents in their respective coils changed in this fashion will reverse the position of their respective magnetic dipoles and the resulting reaction with the magnetic fields of the magnets 16* and 12 will cause a division in the vane assemblies to form the selected chute thereof.

If another control channel is next selected for forming a new chute throat, such, for example, one of those control channels that just previously had its output current reversed, the switch of the signal voltage from the previous input lead 46 to the lead of the new control channel will cause the originally selected control channel and all control channels between the same and the newly selected control channel to revert to their previous status, that is, have the same zero or ground potential applied to the two input leads of their respective mixer gates and thus cause a change in the direction of the flow of current through the coils of their respective vanes so that they as a group will swing back to the other side of the gap between the pole pieces to form a new chute throat. This action is illustrated in FIG. 3. As successive control channels are thus individually energized by application of a potential differing from the others, the vanes will be shifted back and forth from each selected throat position without returning to a neutral or Zero position.

In the illustrated embodiment of the chute selection control device 34, each control channel 120 thereof is similarly constructed and may have the circuit design of that shown in detail in FIG. 9. Transistor circuitry is exhibited for the purpose of performing the switching operation, but it is understood that other types of switches may be substituted therefor. The several components of each control channel contains a transistor and associated circuitry. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the mixer gate component 122 contains a transistor 1 36; the inverter component 124 contains a transistor 138; the upper and lower amplifier components 126 contain transistors respectively indicated at 120 and 142; the upper and lower emitter follower components 128 contain transistors 144 and 146 respectively; and the upper and lower power transistor components 13% contain transistors 148 and 150 respectively.

The operation of the control device 34 illustrated in FIG. 9 may be self-evident, but for the purpose of clairty typical operating conditions are set forth hereinafter. The application of zero or ground potential to to the input leads 46 of all of the mixer gates 122 causes the transistor 136 of each gate component 122 to be turned off or become non-conducting, and thus provide a negative potential on the output lead therefrom. This causes the transistor 138 of each inverter component 12 to be turned on or become conducting. This causes the transistor 140 of the upper amplifier component v126 to be turned off which then turns on the transistor 144 of the upper emitter follower 123 and this in turn biases on transistor 148 of the upper power transistor component 1'30. Simultaneously with this action the foregoing application of a Zero or ground potential to each mixer gate will cause the transistor 14 2 of the lower amplifier component 126 to turn on thus turning 01f transistor 146 of the lower emitter follower 128 and turning off the transistor 150 of the lower power transistor component 130. Thus the upper branch turns on its power transistor 148 12 while the lower branch turns off its power transistor 150 and the two operate in conjunction with one another to provide what may be considered as a single pole, double throw switch which causes current to flow in the coils of the set of vanes shown in FIG. 9 in the direction of the full line arrows 152.

In order to divide the vanes to form a selected chute throat, a negative potential is applied to a selected input lead 46. Upon the occurrence of this signal the transistor 136 af the selected mixer gate 122 becomes conductive and provides a more positive or ground potential on its output terminal. This causes the transistor 138 of the inverter component 124 to become non-conductive and thus turn on the transistor of the upper amplifier component 126, which in turn operates to turn off the transistor 1144 of the upper emitter follower 128 causing the power transistor 148 to be biased off. Simultaneously with the foregoing, the negative signal at terminal 46 causes the transistor 142 of the lower amplifier component 126 to turn off and thus turn on the transistor 146 of the lower emitter follower component 128 and thereby turn on power transistor 159. The switch in the operation of the two power transistors 143 and now causes the current to flow in the direction of the dotted line arrows 154, or reverse to the previous direction, and thereby changing the polarity of the dipoles on the two vanes. By means of the cross connecting leads 132, the change in the signalled channel is propagated to all the control channels on one side thereof and all such channels will likewise operate in the manner just described to reverse the current flow through their respective sets of vanes. Thus a movement of one or more sets of vanes will occur from the previous throat position of the vanes and open up a new chute for the sorting of the next item.

There has thus been described a novel, extremely high speed, automatic chute selection apparatus capable of operating on relatively low power requirements and from selecting position to selecting position without returning to a starting position. In the present invention the ends of the chute members form the only moving parts thereof and the item selecting blades of the chute members are moved to different selecting positions without the use of external physical means thus providing a chute selection mechanism having very little inertia.

I claim:

1. A selector device comprising, in combination, an assembly of flexible chute forming blades of non-magnetic material having the opposite faces of one end of each blade arranged in face to face relation with the faces of the ends of adjacent blades, electrical current conducting means carried by the end of each blade and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends, magnetic means establishing a magnetic field through all of the blade ends of a polarity either to attract or repel said blades depending upon the polarity established on the opposite sides of said blades, and control means including means individually connected to each of said current carrying means to cause current to flow through the current conducting means in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the magnetic poles on all adjacent blade ends are unlike one another in said magnetic field to attract said blades together into a group, said control means including means selectively to cause the individual means of a selected blade and the individual means of all other blades to one side of the selected blade to reverse the direction of current through their respective current conducting means thus to divide said group of blades in order to establish a chute opening between the blades of the assembly having like poles on adjacent faces.

2. A multiple chute device comprising, an assembly of flexible elongated chute forming blades of non-magnetic material having a common end of the blades aligned in 13 face to face relation with one another, electrical current conducting means carried by said end of each blade and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each blade end, magnetic means positioned on opposite sides of the blade assembly and establishing opposing magnetic fields in which all of said blade ends and their current conducting means are disposed, and individual means connected to each of said current conducting means to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on the opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the poles on all adjacent blade faces are unlike one another thus to cause said blades to be magnetically attracted together into a group in said magnetic fields by the interaction of said poles with said fields, and means selectively to cause any one of the individual means of a selected blade and the individual means of all other blades to one side of the selected blade to reverse the direction of current through their associated current conducting means to magnetically separate said blades into two groups thus to establish a chute between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces.

3. A multiple chute selection device comprising, an assembly of flexible elongated chute forming blades of non-magnetic material having the opposite faces of each blade adjacent to one end aligned in face to face relation with similar faces of the other blades, electrical current conducting means carried by said end of each blade and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blades, a pair of permanent magnets each positioned on an opposite side of the blade assembly adjacent to the outer-most blade thereof and each establishing a magnetic field in which all of said blade ends and their associated current conducting means are positioned, the poles of said permanent magnets being opposed to one another and of the same polarity either to attract or repel said blade ends according to the polarity established by the current conducting means of said blades, and electrical current supplying means connected to each of said current conducting means normally to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the poles on adjacent blades of the assembly are unlike one another in the said magnetic field and said blades are thereby magnetically attracted together into a group toward one of said permanent magnets, and means selectively to cause the current supplying means for any one of the current conducting means on a selected blade and the current conducting means of other blades to one side of the selected blade to reverse the direction of current through their respective current conducting means thus magnetically to cause separation of the blade assembly into two groups to provide a chute opening between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces.

4. A chute gate for a multiple chute device comprising, a pair of spaced magnets establishing a magnetic field therebetween, an assembly of chute forming blades within said magnetic field having the opposite faces of each blade adjacent to one end thereof aligned in face to face relation with similar faces of the other blades, electrical current conductive means carried by each of said blade ends and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces thereof for interaction with the field of said pair of magnets, and electrical circuit means connected to each of said current conductive means normally to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the poles on all adjacent blades are opposite to one another in the magnetic field thus to be drawn together by interaction therewith into a compact assembly adjacent to one of said magnets, and means selectively to reverse the current flow in any one of the current conductive means of a selected blade and all other such means on the blades to one side of the selected blade to cause said blade assembly to separate into two groups between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces and establish a chute opening therebetween.

5. A chute gate for multiple chute apparatus comprising, magnetic means providing a pair of adjacent facing magnetic poles of the same polarity for establishing therebetween a magnetic field associated with each pole, a plurality of elongated chute forming blades of nonmagnetic material having common ends of the blades arranged in face to face relation between the pair of facing poles with the ends positioned within said magnetic fields so that the fields pass through all of the said blade faces positioned therebetween, electrical current conducting means on a face of each of said blade ends, said last means being within said magnetic fields and being responsive to the flow of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of its associated blade ends, and a plurality of electrical circuit means, respective ones of said circuit-means being connected to a different one of said current conducting means normally to cause current to flow through said current carrying means in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby adjacent poles on all of the blades are unlike and interact with the magnetic fields established by said magnetic means to cause said blade ends between said poles to be drawn compactly together, and means selectively to reverse the current flow through the current conducting means on selected blades to cause said selected blades to separate from the remaining blades to form a chute opening between the blades.

6. A chute gate for a multiple chute device comprising, a pair of spaced U-shaped magnets with facing adjacent poles of the same polarity establishing a pair of opposed magnetic fields therebetween, similar pluralities of aligned chute forming blades of non-magnetic material arranged with adjacent ends in face to face relation within each of said magnetic fields so that one of said plurality of blade ends is disposed between one pair of similar magnetic poles and the other plurality of blade ends is disposed between the other pair of similar magnetic poles, said magnetic fields passing through all of said blade end faces, electrical current conductive means carried by each of said blade ends and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of said blade ends, and electrical circuit means connected to each of said current conductive means on the said end of each blade normally to cause current to flow through said current conductive means of each blade in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby adjacent poles on all of the blades are unlike one another in the magnetic fields established by the U-shaped magnets and whereby said blades are drawn toward one of said magnets by interaction of said magnetic fields with said poles on said blades, and said electrical circuit means including means selectively to cause the current conductive means of a selected blade and of all other blades to one side of the selected blade to reverse the direction of current through their respective current conductive means thus to urge said selected blade and said other blades toward the other of said magnets thus to establish a chute opening between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces.

7. In a machine for sorting documents into a plurality of individual document pockets, a multiple chute selector device comprising, means providing at least one pair of relatively stationary magnetic poles defining an air gap therebetween bridged by a magnetic field associated with each pole, movable non-magnetic elements disposed be- 15 establish unlike magnetic poles on each of said elements and in a line in the magnetic fields of said air gap for causing the magnetic poles of said elements to react with said stationary magnetic poles and move toward one stationary pole and away from the other stationary pole, and signal control means connected to each of said electrically energizable magnetizable means to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to establish the unlike magnetic poles on each of said elements whereby the poles on adjacent pairs of all of the elements are unlike in said magnetic fields thereby to cause said elements, by interaction of said magnetic fields with said magnetic poles on the elements, to move toward one stationary pole of said fields, said signal control means including means selectively to cause one of the control means for the magnetizable means of a selected element and all other control means associated with the magnetizable means of the elements to one side of said selected element to reverse the direction of current through their respective electrically energizable magnetizable means in the magnetic fields to cause the elements associated with said one and said other control means to move toward the other stationary pole of said fields thus to establish a pathway opening between the elements having like poles on adjacent faces.

8. A chute gate for a multiple chute device comprising, in combination, a pair of spaced permanent magnets disposed with their like poles in opposed confronting relation forming an air gap therebetween and establishing a magnetic field associated with each pole in said gap, a plurality of chute forming blades of non-magnetic material having their ends positioned within said air gap and further having the opposite faces of each blade end arranged in face to face relation with similar faces of the ends of the others of said plurality of blades, an electrically conductive element on the end of each blade responsive to a flow of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of said blades, and signal control means operatively connected to the electrically conductive elements on the ends of the blades normally to cause cur-rent to flow through said conduc tive elements in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of the blade ends whereby the poles on adjacent pairs of all of the blades are unlike in the magnetic field established by the magnets and all the blade ends are drawn together into one group adjacent to one of said magnets by the interaction of said magnetic poles and said magnetic fields, said signal control means including means selectively to reverse the current flow through the electrically conductive element on a selected blade and the conductive elements of all other blades to one side of said selected blade thus to reverse the poles on the opposite faces of said one and said other blades to cause said last mentioned blades by interaction of said poles with said magnetic field to be repelled from the balance of the blades in said group toward the other of said magnets to establish a chute between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces.

9. A multiple chute selection device comprising, in combination, a plurality of flexible elongated chute forming blades of non-magnetic material each having a free end arranged in face to face relation with the free ends of the other of said blades, an electrical current conductive coil carried on but insulated from the free end of each blade and responsive .to current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on the opposite faces of each blade, permanent magnets positioned on opposite sides of the outermost blades of said plurality of blades and establishing opposed magnetic fields in which all of said blade ends and their coils are positioned, said permanent magnets being of such polarity as .to interact with said magnetic poles to attract or repel said blade ends according to the polarity established by the direction of current through the coils of the blades, a plurality of individual electrical circuit control means, means connecting a re spective one of said control means to a respective coil on the end of each blade normally to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the poles on all adjacent blades are unlike and said blades are attracted to one of the opposed magnetic fields established by the permanent magnets, and means operatively associated with said electrical circuit control means and operable selectively to cause the individual control means associated with a selected blade and all other individual control means of the blades to one side of the selected blade to reverse the direction of current through their respective coils and thus reverse the poles on said selected and said other blades causing said last mentioned blades to be repelled by said one of the opposed magnetic fields and .to be attracted by the other of said opposed magnetic fields thereby to open a chute between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces.

10. A chute gate for a multiple chute device comprising, in combination, a pair of spaced magnets having their similar poles arranged in opposed confronting alignment thus establishing a pair of similarly directed or oriented magnetic component fields between them, an assembly of chute forming blades of non-magnetic material located between each pair of like poles of the magnets, each blade of each assembly having a free end arranged in face to face relation with the free ends of the other blades of its assembly and all of said blade ends being disposed within the said magnetic component fields, an electrically conductive coil secured to and insulated from the free end of each of said blades and being responsive to electrical current flow therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces thereof, and electrical control circuit means connected to each of said coils on the said end of each blade normally to cause current to how :therethrough in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the poles on adjacent pairs of all the blades are unlike and the blades are in the magnetic component field established by one of the spaced magnets, said control circuit means including means selectively to cause the coil on a selected blade of each assembly and the coils on all of the blades to one side of the selected blade to reverse the direction of current therethrough thus to cause said selected one and said other blades to move into the magnetic component field established by the other of said spaced magnets thus to separate said blades to establish a chute opening between the blades having like poles on adjacent faces.

11. A gating device comprising, a plurality of vanes arranged face to face and capable of deflection in directions transverse to the planes of the vanes, each vane having an electrical conductor, each conductor being responsive to current flow thereth-rough to establish a magnetic field such that unlike magnetic poles are produced on opposite sides of its associated vane, individual electrical control circuit means connected to each of said conductors to cause current to flow through the conductor on each vane, means controlling said individual electrical control circuit means to direct current flow in one direction through the conductor of a selected one of said vanes and all of the conductors of the vanes to one side of the selected vane, said control circuit means including means to direct the current flow in the opposite direction through the conductors of the remaining ones of the vanes whereby the reaction between the magnetic poles produced thereby tends to separate the vanes into two groups forming a passageway therebetween.

12. Chute selection apparatus for high speed sorters comprising, in combination, means forming a path of movement for items being sorted, a plurality of flexible chute forming blades of non-magnetic material arranged face to face and terminating in juxtaposed free ends aligned with said path movement, electrically conductive means on the free end of each blade responsive to the flow of current therethrough to establish a magnetic dipole on the blade, means for establishing two opposing magnetic fields of like polarity in which said conductive means are positioned, signal sensing means in the path of movement of the items in advance of said magnetic fields for producing a electrical signal characteristic of data sensed from the items, electrical control circuit means including individual means connected to each of said conductive means on the free end of each blade and responsive to a signal sensed by said signal sensing means to cause current to flow through said conductive means in one direction to establish said dipoles with unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said blade ends whereby the poles on "adjacent pairs of all of the blades are unlike one another in the opposing magnetic fields and said blades are magnetically urged to closely adjacent relation with each other, said electrical control circuit means including means responsive to another sensed signal to cause said individual means to reverse the current in the conductive means on a selected blade and on all other blades to one side of the selected blade thereby magnetically to urge said one and said other blades away from the remaining blades to separate the blades into two groups thus to form an item receiving chute therebetween, and means on opposite sides of said chute forming blades for transporting items through said item receiving chute.

13. Sorting apparatus for documents moving at high speed along a path of movement comprising, a plurality of chute forming vanes having ends thereof terminating in a group in parallel face to face relation in said path of movement and capable of deflection in opposite direction to open selected chutes between said vanes to receive said documents, an electrical conductor on each vane responsive to current flow therethrough to establish magnetic poles of opposite polarity on opposite sides of each of said vane ends, means providing a magnetic field extending through all of said electrical conductors on the vanes, information sensing means in the path of movement of said douments and capable of providing an electrical output characteristic of data on the documents, electrical control means responsive to the data output of said sensing means and including individual means connected to each of said electrical conductors for causing current to flow through said conductors in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said vane ends whereby the adjacent poles on all adjacent vanes are opposite to each other and said vanes are magnetically urged to a position closely adjacent to each other by interaction of said poles with said magnetic field, said control means including electrical means selectively to reverse the direction of current in the electrical conductor on a selected vane and in all other of said conductors on certain other vanes to cause the same to move away from the remaining vanes in the magnetic field thus to establish a chute opening to receive the document, and transport means for moving documents through the chute formed by said vanes.

14. A multiple chute device comprising, in combination, a pair of oppositely disposed substantially parallel wall members, a chute forming blade having a free end of non-magnetic material disposed between the parallel wall members and cooperable with said wall members to form a chute on opposite sides of said blade, electrical current conductive means on the free end of the blade responsive to the direction of current therethrough selectively to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of the blade, magnetic means positioned adjacent to each one of said pair of wall members and providing a magnetic field pervading the free ends of the blade, and individual electrical circuit control means connected to said current conductive means normally to cause current to flow through the current conductive means in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of the blade, said control means including means to reverse the direction of current through said current conductive means so as to reverse the poles on the opposite faces of said blade, thereby to cause the poles thus formed to interact with the magnetic field of said magnetic means to move the blade in one direction or the other between said wall members thus to provide a chute on one or the other side of the blade depending upon the direction it is moved relative to the wall members.

15. A selector device comprising, in combination, a substantially flat elongated side wall member, a flat flexible element disposed adjacent and substantially parallel to the side wall member and cooperable therewith to form a throat opening therebetween, electrical current conducting means carried by said flexible element and responsive to the direction of current therethrough selectively to establish magnetic fields on opposite faces of the element of one or the other of two possible polarities, means for establishing a second magnetic field the magnetic lines of force of which penetrate said flexible element and said current conducting means, and electrical control signal means connected to the current conducting means to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of said flexible element and cause said element by interaction of said magnetic fields to move in a direction toward said wall memher, said control signal means including means selectively to reverse the direction of current through the current conducting means to cause said flexible element to move in the opposite direction to establish a chute between the flexible element and said wall member.

16. In a magnetic selection apparatus, the combination comprising, oppositely disposed parallel elongated Wall forming members, a plurality of fiat deflectable non-magnetic selecting elements disposed in parallel side-by-side relation between said wall forming members, said selecting elements being of different lengths with one end of each terminating in an item receiving hopper and the opposite ends terminating together in a group with their leading edges in substantial alignment, a pair of magnetic members each having a north and a south pole disposed with their respective like poles in opposed confronting relation defining an air gap therebetween and producing a pair of repelling magnetic fields extending between like poles in said air gap, said selecting elements being received within said gap so that the lines of force of said magnetic fields pass through the substantially aligned ends of all of said elements, said elements being sidewise deflectable within said magnetic fields toward one or the other of said poles, the ends of each of said selecting elements Within said air gap being provided with an electrically energizable coil responsive to the direction of current therethrough for establishing unlike magnetic poles on opposite sides thereof,- the lines of force of the poles of said coils extending perpendicularly to the lines of force of the magnetic field within which said elements are received, individual electrical current means connected to each of said coils on each element to normally cause current to flow through the coil in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite sides of each of said elements whereby the magnetic poles on adjacent elements are unlike in the mag netic field caused by said magnetic members thereby causing said selecting elements to be drawn together in a group toward one of said magnets and against one of said wall members, and electrical circuit means operatively coupled to said individual electrical current means of a selected element and of all other elements to one side of the selected element to reverse the direction of current through their respective coils in the magnetic field thereby to cause said selected one and said other elements to move over against the other of said wall members thus to establish a chute opening between the elements having like poles on adjacent sides thereof.

17. A multiple chute selection device including, in combination, a plurality of aligned flexible elongated chute forming blades of non-magnetic material with the oppol site faces of one end of each blade arranged in face to face relation with the confronting faces of the ends of adjacent blades, an electrically conductive coil insulatingly carried on said end of each of said chute forming blades, said conductive coils being responsive to a flow of current therethrough to establish a pair of magnetic poles on opposite faces of the blade end on which the coil is carried, and electrical circuit control means connected to each coil of each blade to cause current to flow therethrough in one direction to develop a magnetic force attracting said blade ends together in a group, said electrical circuit control means including means for causing current to flow in a selected number of adjacent blades thus to develop a repelling magnetic force acting to divide the blades into two separate groups and thus form a chute opening between the two groups.

18. A multiple chute selection device comprising, in combination, an assembly of chute forming blades each having a free end positioned in side by side relation with the free ends of the other blades, electrical current conducting means on the free end of each blade and responsive to the direction of current therethrough for producing unlike magnetic poles on opposite sides of the blade end, magnetic means positioned adjacent to the free ends of the blades and providing at least one magnetic field penetrating the free ends of the blades, means for electrically connecting said current conducting means of the blades to a source of current, and means for controlling said current connecting means selectively to determine the direction of current flow through said current conducting means and operable to cause the current to flow in one direction through the conducting means of one of the blades and the conducting means of any blade located at one side thereof and at the same time to cause the current to flow in a reverse direction through the conducting means of any of the blades located on the opposite side of the selected blade, whereby the magnetic poles thus formed on the free ends of the blades react with one another and with the field of said magnetic means to divide the blade assembly into two slightly separated groups to provide a chute opening therebetween.

19. Chute selection apparatus for high speed sorting comprising, in combination, means forming a path of movement for items to be sorted, a plurality of flat flexible chute forming blades arranged face to face and terminating in juxtaposed free ends aligned with said path of movement, means for establishing interacting magnetic fields of like polarity pervading the free ends of the blades, electrical current conductive means on the free ends of each blade responsive to the flow of current therethrough for producing a magnetic field associated with the blade for reaction with said interacting magnetic fields, means in the path of movement of the items in advance of the free ends of the blades for sensing data on the items and for producing an electrical signal characteristic of the data sensed on each item, electrical control means connected to said sensing means and including individual circuits connected to each of said current conductive means carried by the blades, said control means being responsive to a signal produced by said sensing means for flowing current through the conductive means in such directions as to cause the magnetic fields produced thereby to react with the pervading interacting magnetic fields and to form a chute opening between a selected pair of adjacent blades in accordance with the data sensed on the item.

20. Sorting apparatus for documents moving at high speed comprising, in combination, means forming a path of movement for documents to be sorted, an assembly of chute forming vanes having free ends thereof terminating in a group in parallel face to face relation in said path of movement and capable of deflection in opposite directions to open chutes between pairs of adjacent vanes in order to receive documents, electrical current conducting means carried by the free end of each vane and responsive to the flow of current therethrough to establish magnetic poles of unlike polarity on the opposite faces of the vane end, means providing a magnetic field extending through all of the free ends of the vanes, information sensing means in the path of movement of the documents in advance of the chute forming blades and capable of sensing data on the documents and providing an electrical output characteristic of the sensed data, electrical control means connected to said information sensing means and responsive to the data output signal thereof for flowing current through the current conducting means of the vanes whereby forces are generated by the reaction of the magnetic poles on the free ends of the vanes and the magnetic field extending therethrough for deflecting the vanes to open the chute between the pair of adjacent vanes corresponding to the electrical output of the information sensing means.

21. A chute selection device, comprising, in combina' tion, an assembly of chute forming blades of non-magnetic material arranged with a common free end of each blade in face to face relation with similar ends of the remaining blades, electrical current conducting means carried on the end of each blade and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of the blade ends, magnetic means establishing a magnetic field through all of the blade ends of a polarity either to attract or repel said blades depending upon the polarity established on the opposite faces of said blades, circuit means including individual connections to each of said current conducting means for causing current to flow through the conducting means of all of the blades at the same time to establish unlike magnetic poles on the opposite faces of the blade ends, and means operatively associated with said circuit means for controlling the flow of current to the conducting means of the blades and responsive to a signal for establishing like magnetic poles on the confronting faces of a pair of adjacent blades and unlike magnetic poles on the confronting faces of all of the blades to one side and to the opposite side of said pair of adjacent blades thereby to cause the magnetic poles and the magnetic field to react with one another and thus separate the blade assembly into two groups on a division line between said pair of adjacent blades to form a chute opening therebetween.

22. A chute selection device, comprising, in combination, an assembly of chute forming blades of non-magnetic material arranged with a common free end of each blade in face to face relation with similar ends of the remaining blades, electrical current conducting means carried on the end of each blade and responsive to the direction of current therethrough to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of the blade ends, circuit means including individual connections to each of said current conducting means for causing current to flow through the conducting means of all of the blades at the same time to establish unlike magnetic poles on the opposite faces of the blade ends, and means operatively associated with said circuit means for controlling the flow of current to the conducting means of the blades and operable to establish like magnetic poles on the confronting faces of a selected pair of adjacent blades and further operable at the same time to establish unlike magnetic poles on the confronting faces of the group of blades on one side and the group of blades on the opposite side of said selected pair of blades thereby to develop a repelling force between the selected pair of blades and their respective groups of blades tending to separate the same on a division line between the selected pair of blades to form a chute opening therebetween.

23. A magnetic selection apparatus comprising, means establishing at least a pair of interacting magnetic fields, a movable selector element disposed within said fields, electrical current conductive means carried by said selector element adapted to form part of a closed electrical circuit for establishing a mganetic field associated with said element when current flows through said closed electrical circuit, said current conductive means being disposed within said interacting magnetic fields, and means for applying electrical current to said current conductive means whereby a moving force is generated due to the interaction of the magnetic field created by the current in said current conductive means and said interacting magnetic fields causing said selector element to move within said fields.

24. Magnetic chute selection apparatus comprising, in combination, means establishing at least a pair of interacting magnetic fields, a chute forming blade disposed within said fields, electrical current conductive means carried by said blade adapted to form a part of a closed electrical circuit and when energized establishing a magnetic field associated with the blade, said current conductive means being disposed within said magnetic fields, and means for applying electrical current to said current conductive means whereby a force is generated due to the interaction between the magnetic field produced by the flow of current through said current conductive means and said interacting magnetic fields so as to cause said blade to move sideways within said fields.

25. In a magnetic chute selection apparatus, the combination comprising, a pair of magnetic members having at least one like pole of each magnetic member thereof disposed in confronting face to face relationship providing an .air gap therebetween and establishing opposed magnetic fields, a plurality of chute forming blades disposed with the free end of each blade within said air gap, an electrically conductive coil on each blade end, each of the coils having certain components thereof substantially perpendicularly disposed with respect to the magnetic fields within which they are situated, means applying a control current to at least a selected one of said coils, whereby a magnetic force is generated reacting with the opposed fields of said magnetic members and responsive thereto for moving at least a selected one of said blades within said magnetic fields.

26. In a magnetic chute selection apparatus, the combination comprising, magnetic means providing like poles disposed in confronting relationship to form an air gap in which the magnetic fields of the poles are opposed to one another, a fiexible chute forming member disposed in said air gap for sidewise movement between the confronting poles, electrically conductive means carried by said chute forming member within said magnetic fields, and electrically controllable means for energizing said electrically conductive means and thereby to cause said chute forming member to move sidewise within said air gap in response to forces produced by the interaction between the opposing magnetic fields of the poles and the magnetic field generated as a result of the encrgization of the conductive means.

27. A gating device comprising, a plurality of vanes arranged face to face and capable of deflection in directions transverse to the plane of the faces of said vanes, each vane having an electrical conductor thereon, each conductor being responsive to current flow therethrough to establish a magnetic field such that unlike magnetic poles are produced on opposite sides of the vane with which the conductor is associated, and individual electrical control circuit means connected to each of said conductors normally to cause current to flow through the conductor on each vane in one direction to establish unlike magnetic poles on opposite faces of each of said vanes whereby the poles on adjacent pairs of all of the vanes are unlike one another thus to attract all the vanes together into a group, said control circuit means including means selectively to reverse the direction of current through the conductor on a selected vane and the con ductors of all of the vanes to one side of the selected vane thus to divide the plurality of vanes into two groups and establish .a chute between the vanes having like poles on adjacent faces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,506,604 Lokker May 9, 1950 

